BurmaNet News: July 3 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

July 3 2003 Issue #2276

INSIDE BURMA

Irrawaddy: Suu Kyi’s whereabouts still unknown
AP: Red Cross: Myanmar holds at least 30 from clash that led to jailing of
Nobel winner
Muslim Information Center of Burma: SPDC local authorities insult and jail
ladies in Burma

MONEY

Xinhua: Myanmar to hold travel show in Singapore
AFX: BAT expected to withdraw from Myanmar on Britain’s request—lobbyists
expect
Myanmar Times: US sanctions threaten 350,000 workers in garment industry

ON THE BORDER

Financial Times: Exiles from Burma face clampdown in Thailand
Nation: Exiles to be moved to border camps

REGIONAL

Malaysiakini: Burmese deputy FM to meet Mahathir over Suu Kyi
Narinjara: Burma FM arrives in Dhaka on Saturday
AFP: Indonesia to decide if ASEAN will send mission to Myanmar: Ong
Yonhap: South Korean lawmakers call for release of Burmese opposition leader
Irrawaddy: Court acquits Soe Myint

INTERNATIONAL

Irrawaddy: No EU visas for generals and associates

EDITORIALS/STATEMENTS

Bangkok Post: Why this abject toadying to Burma
FCO: Press Release
Bangkok Post: Welcome to
horror

INSIDE BURMA

Irrawaddy July 3 2003

Suu Kyi’s Whereabouts Still Unknown
By Aung Zaw

Where is Daw Aung San Suu Kyi? We are worried for her well-being and
safety." These are the words of Tin Win from central Burma, one of perhaps
millions of Burmese who admire the Nobel Peace Laureate.
The National League for Democracy (NLD) member continued: "We keep hearing
rumors about her. We don't know where she has been held...We heard she
went on a hunger strike."
Tin Win’s concern is shared by many inside Burma and abroad.
New reports say Suu Kyi has been transferred from the notorious Insein
prison to an army guest house. Military government still refuse to reveal
where she is being held. Burmese officials assure that Suu Kyi is in
"protective custody" and in good health.
But concern for Suu Kyi’s safety and well-being is still growing daily.
Alfredo Mallet, deputy head of the The International Committee for Red
Cross in Rangoon said his team is visiting Insein prison very soon but
have struck out in their efforts to see the NLD leader. "We don’t know
anything about Aung San Suu Kyi—we don’t know where she is. We never
received any official information about where she is being detained," he
said. "We would like to meet her as soon as possible. She is entitled to
receive visitors."
A veteran journalist in Rangoon suggested that Suu Kyi may be in detention
at an army guest house or in Yemon camp, on the outskirts of Rangoon.
"Insein is not a wise decision," said the reporter, adding that the prison
is not a safe place for Suu Kyi or military leaders. "If they want to keep
her in ‘protective custody,’ they will keep her under their wings."
Meanwhile, emerging reports from Burma suggest that the May 30 ambush on
Suu Kyi’s motorcade was well-planned and Suu Kyi was one of the main
targets.
An NLD member who is in hiding inside Burma told a correspondent in
Rangoon that Suu Kyi was fortunate to escaped the attack.
"It was just by luck that her car sped off," said the NLD member who was
also attacked by thugs, many of whom belong to the Union Solidarity
Development Association (USDA).
Suu Kyi’s bodyguards believe that those who planned the ambush intended to
kill her, according to the NLD member. "They had plans to announce Suu Kyi
was attacked by anti-NLD people and died during the clash," he said.
The regime says four people were killed during the clash and about 50 were
injured. But opposition sources believe more than 80 people perished.
After the clash, military officials began to relocate villagers from the
area where the attack took place. Informed sources say villagers were not
given any reason why they were being moved but were assured it would be
temporary.
Villagers from the area report hearing rumors that international
investigators visited the scene. Journalists in Rangoon believe that
military officials wanted to destroy evidence and bar locals from talking
to investigators and diplomats.
__________

Associated Presse July 3 2003

Red Cross: Myanmar holds at least 30 from clash that led to jailing of
Nobel winner

The military regime in Myanmar has at least 30 prisoners from a clash that
triggered a crackdown on the opposition and to the jailing of Nobel Peace
Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, the Red Cross said Thursday.

A team from the International Committee of the Red Cross visited prisons
in the north of the country and registered 30 inmates, checked their
health and proposed they write letters to their families, said Michel
Ducraux, a representative of the organization in Myanmar.

Such letters, which prison authorities would be allowed to read, would
serve to assure their relatives they were in good health, Ducraux said.

Myanmar's military leaders have not disclosed the number of opposition
prisoners held since the May 30 clash and has refused international
appeals to release Suu Kyi.

The details of the clash are in dispute. Myanmar's military junta claims
opposition followers and government supporters fought when Suu Kyi's
motorcade drove through a crowd.

But the opposition and other witnesses say it was a government ambush.

Red Cross officials were not permitted to visit Suu Kyi, who received the
Nobel prize in 1991 for her nonviolent promotion of democracy in the
country also known as Burma.

The Red Cross was able to see Tin Oo, vice chairman of Suu Kyi's National
League for Democracy party, who was in good health, Ducraux said.

He said the Red Cross would keep trying to see Suu Kyi, but stressed that
the organization "considers everybody as important as anyone else."
___________

Muslim Information Centre of Burma (MICB)

SPDC local authorities insult and jail ladies in Burma

On June, 15, 2003, at 1.00 A. M; State Peace and Development Council
(SPDC) local authorities in Thin Gan Gyun township of Rangoon division,
during their search for visitor-mission, removed the mosquito-net of two
young ladies and sentenced their mother to six months_imprisonment,
according to a neighbor, who informed on condition of anonymity.

Thin Gan Gyun tract (Ka Gyi) elders, U Soe Win, U Soe Naing, U Mar Ni Kun,
U Tin Aung, U Than Zin, U Shwe Win etc; led by Chairman U Htin Win were
drinking alcohol at some shops on Min Gala Road in the evening of
14/6/2003, and just after midnight they started to knock at the doors
of Daw Kyi Win_s house in order to search for visitors there, the
neighbour said.

When the house owner, Daw Kyi Win opened the doors, the authorities
entered the house, and some of them removed the mosquito-net , hung over
her two young daughters despite repeated requests that they were her two
young daughters sleeping, the neighbour said.

The two daughters, Ma Soe Soe (19 years old) and Ma Aye Aye (21 years
old), woke up in surprise when the mother, Daw Kyi Win said that the
conduct done by the village elders was very uncivilized, the neighbour
said.

On the same day, Daw Kyi Win was brought to the SPDC regional court, which
handed her six- month prison sentences on the charge of disturbing the
duties of the SPDC authorities, the neighbour said.

MONEY

Xinhua News Agency July 3 2003

Myanmar to hold travel show in Singapore

Myanmar is planning to hold a travel show in Singapore from Sept. 5 to 14
to boost its tourism industry, disclosed the Ministry of Hotels and
Tourism Thursday.

Coordination is being made with the Conference Exhibition Management
Services Pte Ltd of Singapore as well as local hoteliers, tour operators
and airlines to make marketing arrangements for the sponsoring of the
10-day Myanmar Festival 2003, the sources said.

Singapore is one of the countries in Asia, in which Myanmar has previously
participated in various tourism fairs, and is also one of the five
countries in the region with which Myanmar has initiated bilateral
agreement on development of tourism. Singapore has trained a large number
of skilled Myanmar tourism supervisors under the bilateral agreement.

In recent years, in addition to taking part in tourism fairs held in
Singapore, Myanmar also joined such events taking place in Thailand,
China's Hong Kong, South Korea and Germany with the aim of drawing more
tourist arrivals to the country for the development of its tourism
industry.

Meanwhile, Myanmar is also cooperating with tourism authorities of member
countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in regional
activities, including cooperation programs for tourist destinations in the
ASEAN region and market promotion activities of nations in the Greater
Mekong Subregion as well as Ganges-Mekong cooperation program.

According to official statistics, tourist arrivals in Myanmar increased by
11.47 percent in 2002 from 2001, reaching 310,971, the highest since 1996.
And contracted foreign investment in the sector of hotels and tourism
amounted to 1,059.25 million US dollars in 43 projects as of the end of
2002 since late 1988 when the country started to open to such investment.

Myanmar has set a short-term target to draw 500,000 foreign tourists
annually.

An earlier official report said following the Myanmar Festival 2003 in
Singapore, Myanmar is also planning to take part in a three-day Thailand
Travel Mart-2003 scheduled for Sept. 16-18 in Bangkok, Thailand.
__________

AFX July 3 2003

BAT expected to withdraw from Myanmar on Britain's request - lobbyists expect
By Victoria Arrowsmith

  Campaigners lobbying British American Tobacco PLC to pull out of
Myanmar, formerly Burma, are confident that Britain's largest cigarette
maker will decide to exit the country after it agreed on Wednesday to
government demands to consider the future of its investments there.
    BAT on Thursday denied it had been backed into a corner by the
government over Burma, but confirmed that it had for the first time
agreed to review its presence in the troubled country.
    "We have always been open to review on our Burma operations," Sarah
Corbey, a spokeswoman for the cigarette maker told AFX Global Ethics
Monitor Thursday.
    The Burma Campaign UK, a lobby group which keeps a list of 'dirty
companies' operating in Myanmar, said the hard line taken by the
government represented a "victory" over BAT. It claimed that the
company's request for a meeting with Foreign Office Minister Mike
O'Brien's was "preparing the ground so that it could pull out with
more honour."
    "This represents a significant softening of the BAT line. I cannot
imagine them reverting now," Mark Farmaner, campaigns officer told AFX
GEM.
    Corbey refused to comment on whether the outcome of the meeting had
been expected by BAT. "The reason we requested the meeting was simply
for some clarity on both sides," she said.
    Despite persistent government and lobby group pressure, BAT has
previously said it would remain in Myanmar, where it employs around
500 people, unless its presence there became illegal.
    It maintains that withdrawal from the country would make the situation
worse for its employees due to the country's shaky economy.
    BAT would not comment on whether it anticipated any room for manoeuvre
on its future in Myanmar after O'Brian's statement. "We are looking at
all our options," said Corbey.
    O'Brian said Prime Minister Tony Blair had "made clear that we do not
believe that trade or investment in Burma is appropriate when the
regime continues to suppress the basic human rights of its people."
    Recent government interest in British firms' commercial involvement in
Burma has coincided with increased ministerial efforts to secure the
release of Aung San Suu Kyi, the country's pro-democracy opposition
leader.
    BAT operates in Myanmar in partnership with the Burmese government and
has about a 10 million-pounds investment in Burma.
    It is the second British company to be asked to withdraw from Burma
after Premier Oil PLC, the UK's largest investor in the country.
    O'Brian said Wednesday he would now be writing to travel organisations
operating in Burma asking them to reconsider their future there. The
Burma Campaign UK said it is already targeting Orient Express, Noble
Caledonia and US-based Abercrombie and Kent alongside 30 smaller tour
operators.
_________

Myanmar Times June 23-29 2003

US sanctions threaten 350,000 workers in garment industry

Young women working in the apparel industry will be the main victims of
any decision by the United States to ban all imports from Myanmar (Burma),
a garment factory executive said last week. "It would affect the jobs of
350,000 industry employees," said U Thant Soe, the managing director of
the Hlaing Thit factory in Yangon's (Rangoon's) South Dagon township.

U Thant Soe was referring to legislation passed by the US Senate on 11
June to ban imports from Myanmar. It must be passed by the House of
Representatives and endorsed by President Bush before it becomes law. "If
orders ceased because of sanctions then we would have to stop operations;
it would be a pity because the young women who comprise most of the
workers in industry would be the hardest hit," said U Thant Soe, whose
factory has a workforce of more than 500. Hlaing Thit is one of more than
200 garment factories in Yangon, most of which make clothes for the US and
European markets on a cut, make and pack basis through orders placed by
traders in Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea. U Thant Soe said the
garment industry in Myanmar had been expecting a surge of orders as
traders turned away from manufacturers in China because of the SARS
(severe acute respiratory syndrome) outbreak there. But the reverse had
happened, he said.

"The traders are getting worried about the possibility of a US import ban
and have been calling factories and urging them to complete their orders
as soon as possible," U Thant Soe said. About 80 per cent of the garments
made in Myanmar are destined for the US, with the rest going to Europe.
"At my factory, 95 per cent of output is for the US market," he said,
adding that garment manufacturers were trying to expand their markets in
Europe as a precaution against an American import ban.

U Thant Soe said orders at his factory were steady. Traders were
continuing their usual practice is renewing orders every two months, he
said. Figures collected in 2001 showed that Myanmar had 400 garment
factories which exported products worth 400m US dollars to the US, or
about one per cent of its total imports. Because of a slowdown in the
sector the number of operating factories had fallen to just over 200,
industry sources said.

ON THE BORDER

Financial Times July 3 2003

Exiles from Burma face clampdown in Thailand
By DAVID IBISON, AMY KAZMIN and BAYAN RAHMAN

Burmese political exiles living in Thailand must stay in refugee camps
along the border, Bangkok said yesterday. The move is aimed at clamping
down on dissidents' political activities and their criticism of Burma's
military junta.

Sihasak Phuangketkeow, a Thai foreign ministry spokesman, said relocating
all dissidents - now living in cities across Thailand - would allow
Bangkok to exercise greater control over the exiles and prevent them from
hurting Thai links with Burma's military rulers.

"They are not supposed to be able to engage in political activities that
would affect relations with other countries," Mr Sihasak said. "They are
here as guests."

More than 125,000 ethnic minority people from Burma are already sheltering
in Thai refugee camps to avoid fighting and persecution in conflict zones
in eastern Burma.

But thousands more Burmese political dissidents - about 1,500 of whom are
officially recognised as refugees by the United Nations - have lived
relatively freely in Thailand, engaged in political activism, social
welfare for migrant workers, writing, publishing and other activities.

Thai tolerance of peaceful political activities by Burmese refugees has
long irritated Rangoon's generals, who permit no criticism at home and
have kept Burma's pro-democracy opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, under
house arrest for nearly half of the past 15 years.

Thai attitudes towards refugees' political activities hardened after
hostage-taking in 1999 and 2000.

Tolerance for the exiles' activism has eroded during the two-year-old
administration of Thaksin Shinawatra, prime minister, who has made a
priority of improving ties with the Burmese junta.

Mr Thaksin, whose family-owned telecommunications empire has business
links with the son of one of Burma's top three generals, accused Burmese
refugees last week of "mis-behaving", for publicly protesting against the
junta's renewed detention of Ms Suu Kyi, held incommunicado since May 30.

* Burma is sending a special envoy to Tokyo tomorrow after Japan suspended
financial aid to the country because of the detention of Ms Suu Kyi, Bayan
Rahman and David Ibison report from Tokyo.

Khin Maung Win, Burma's deputy foreign minister and special envoy, will
carry a letter from Than Shwe, the country's military leader, in response
to calls by Junichiro Koizumi, Japan's prime minister, for Ms Suu Kyi's
release.
_______

Nation July 3 2003

Exiles to be moved to border camps
By Rungrawee C Pinyorat, Piyanart Srivalo

The 1,600 Burmese with permanent exile status living mostly in Bangkok
will be rounded up and housed indefinitely in border camps to prevent
their acting against Thailand's sovereign and security interests.

Foreign Affairs Ministry and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) representatives met yesterday to discuss measures to monitor the
dissidents after Burma last week warned that some of them planned to
kidnap its diplomats in Thailand and demand that detained opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi be released in exchange.

After the meeting chaired by deputy permanent secretary Wirasak Futrakul,
spokesman Sihasak Phuangketkeow said the government and the UNHCR would
relocate all "persons of concern (POC)" - asylum seekers granted refugee
status by the UNHCR - to holding centres, with exceptions on a
case-by-case basis.

"Those who do not obey the regulation will have their POC status revoked,"
Sihasak said.

They also should not engage in politics or activities that could harm
international relations, he said.

The UNHCR would provide financial assistance to ensure that the transfer
is orderly and safe, said Jakanshah Assadi, regional representative for
Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

The UNHCR has issued 1,500 to 1,600 POC cards to Burmese exiles, but a
National Security Council source said some of those applying for POC
status were actually economic migrants, not political asylum seekers.

About 30 Burmese students hold POC cards, all staying at a border camp.

Assadi said the POCs should be transferred to several of the nine camps
along the border, where some 125,000 displaced Burmese already live,
without specifying which ones.

He also did not indicate how long the POCs might stay in the camps, saying
it depended on conditions in Burma, which was outside the control of the
UNHCR.

The government pledged to continue to provide Burmese exiles with
humanitarian treatment, but Kraisak Choonhavan, chairman of the Senate
foreign affairs committee, was concerned about employment and educational
opportunities for the dissidents in the detention centres.

Kraisak disagreed with the government's suppression of Burmese dissidents
and urged sympathy instead.

REGIONAL

Malaysiakini.com July 3 2003

Burmese deputy FM to meet Mahathir over Suu Kyi
by Yap Mun Ching

Burmese Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung Win will meet with Prime
Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad next week to explain the reasons for the
continued detention of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
According to a source today, Khin will arrive in Kuala Lumpur on Monday
after completing a mission to Japan.
The deputy minister will then proceed to Jakarta to meet with Indonesian
Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda who represents his country as the new
chair of Asean.
Khin is also expected to meet with Asean secretary-general Ong Keng Yong
at the association’s headquarters in Jakarta.
However, Burmese embassy officials in Kuala Lumpur were unavailable for
comment.
Defuse concern
Yesterday, Thai newspapers reported a meeting between Khin and Thai
Premier Thaksin Shinawatra in the Bangkok during which Thaksin was shown
photographs of a ‘healthy looking’ Suu Kyi.
"The house is in good condition and the photos showed her talking to some
officials. She looked healthy and had no signs of any illness," he was
quoted as saying.
The development appears to signal growing concern within the Burmese
government, after Japan pledged last week to stop all new aid programmes
until Suu Kyi’s release.
Two weeks ago, the junta was also put in the uncomfortable position of
being the first country to receive criticism from the traditionally
reticent Asean, after strong pressure from the international community.
At the close of the two-day Asean Ministerial Meeting in Phnom Penh, Asean
had issued a statement saying that it "looked forward to the lifting of
restrictions placed on Aung San Suu Kyi".
Meanwhile, United Nations special envoy for Burma Razali Ismail could not
confirm Khin’s visit to Malaysia but said that this initiative might be
Burma’s attempt to defuse international concern over Suu Kyi’s continued
detention.
"But if they do not release her, it would be unlikely that the
international community would be reassured of her safety," he said when
contacted.
Razali revealed that he had briefed Mahathir on the developments in Burma
several weeks ago.
He said the premier had pledged that he would do his "utmost to influence
the leadership (of Burma) to release Suu Kyi".
Mahathir, a key advocate of Asean’s constructive engagement policy with
the junta, had since been reported as calling for Suu Kyi’s release "as
soon as possible".
The premier said Burma had put Asean in a quandary and he urged Rangoon to
consider the view expressed by the international community.
‘Comfortable’ location
On the latest reports of Suu Kyi being moved from the prison where she was
held in a ‘safe house’, Razali said he received communication five days
ago from the Burmese government to inform him of their plans to move her.
"They said they would move her from where she was held to a more
comfortable location," he said, although declining to say where she is
being held now.
The junta’s move is believe to have come after Razali revealed to the
international community after a meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister
Yoriko Kawaguchi that Suu Kyi was held in "deplorable conditions".
The democracy leader was first arrested more than a month ago on May 30
after her convoy was attacked by mobs at a Burmese northern town.
She has been held incommunicado since with the exception of a visit by
Razali last month.
Razali is scheduled to leave for New York next week to brief UN
secretary-general Kofi Annan on the developments in Burma.
__________

Narinjara News July 3 2003

Burma FM arrives in Dhaka on Saturday

Dhaka, 3 July 2003: Burma Foreign Minister Win Aung arrives in Dhaka on
Saturday as a special envoy of his country’s Prime Minister Senior General
Than Shwe, according to today’s the independent.

During his three-day stay in Bangladesh, Win Aung meet Prime Minister
Begum Khaleda Zia and hand over a letter of Senior General Than Shwe.

Both the foreign Office and the Burma Embassy here yesterday confirmed the
visit of the Burma Foreign Minister, the source said.

U win Aung will also meet Foreign Minister M. Morshed Khan and discuss
bilateral matters.

Diplomatic sources believe that the Burma Foreign Minister’s visit as
special envoy is related to his country’s latest political development. He
is likely to apprise Begum Khaleda Zia of the situation prevailing in
Burma following the detention of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Burma FM will leave Dhaka for home on Monday.
__________

Agence France Presse July 3 2003

Indonesia to decide if ASEAN will send mission to Myanmar: Ong

A decision whether to send an ASEAN delegation to Myanmar to seek the
release of Nobel Peace laureat Aung San Suu Kyi will come from current
chair Indonesia, the regional grouping's secretary general said Thursday.

Ong Keng Yong said that Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda was to
decide if he would lead an ASEAN mission or establish a direct line of
communication with authorities in Myanmar.

"I personally have not heard anything but I trust he is keen to follow up
with what was decided in Phnom Penh," he said.

ASEAN members demanded the Nobel laureate's release during its annual
ministerial meeting in Cambodia last month. The group also announced plans
to send a delegation to Yangon.

Ong said UN special envoy Razali Ismail met Hassan in Jakarta recently to
review the situation in Myanmar and to consider the need for follow-up
action to the Cambodian meeting.

"We are looking forward to the lifting of the restriction on Aung San Suu
Kyi. Minister Hassan would have to follow-up on this," he said on the
sidelines of the ASEAN energy ministers meeting. "We are waiting Hassan's
next move."

Asked if there was a time-frame when a decison would be made, Ong said:
"There is no time-frame. We have to just wait and see."

"We feel that as a member of ASEAN, Myanmar has to look at the impact of
its action on ASEAN," he added.

Ong said he was going to Yangon next week for an economic meeting.

ASEAN, which groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, has been criticized in
the past for its policy of not interfering with each member state's
internal problems.

Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won 1990 elections by a
landslide, but has been denied the ability to rule by the junta.

She was detained after riots broke out on May 30 when her convoy and
supporters were attacked by a junta-backed mob while she was on a
political tour of northern Myanmar.
___________-

Yonhap News Agency July 3 2003

SOUTH KOREAN LAWMAKERS CALL FOR RELEASE OF BURMESE OPPOSITION LEADER

Seoul, 3 July: A group of South Korean lawmakers submitted a resolution to
the National Assembly Thursday (3 July) calling for the immediate release
of Myanmar's (Burma's) detained opposition leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi.

In the resolution, the 30 lawmakers, headed by Rep. Kim Seong-ho of the
ruling Millennium Democratic Party, called on Myanmar's military junta to
put an end to its political oppression of Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize
laureate. "Suu Kyi, who has defied Myanmar's military dictatorship with
nonviolent protests, is regarded as the world's conscience," said Kim, a
first-term lawmaker.

Kim said he and his fellow lawmakers are aiming to pass the resolution
before the end of this month before sending it to the Yangon (Rangoon)
government.

Suu Kyi, chief of Myanmar's opposition National League for Democracy, has
been detained since 30 May following a clash between her supporters and
pro-government forces.

Myanmar's current military junta took power in 1988.
_________

Irrawaddy July 3 2003

Court Acquits Soe Myint
By Taw Taw

An Indian court yesterday acquitted Soe Myint, an exiled Burmese editor
charged with hijacking a passenger flight over a decade ago.
The judge from Brasat Court, in India’s West Bengal, cleared Soe Myint of
all charges after hearing from witnesses. "I am today a free man. But 50
million Burmese still are prisoners in Burma under the military regime,"
Soe Myint said in a statement after the verdict.
He called on the international community, particularly the people of
India, to continue to support the struggle for democracy in Burma.
In Nov 1990, Soe Myint, along with another Burmese dissident, redirected a
Rangoon-bound Thai Airways flight. The two disguised a Buddha statute as a
bomb and demanded the plane land in India.
No one was injured in the hijacking and all police records and witness
testimonies say the men were unarmed. Soe Myint and his partner were
arrested and released after three months in an Indian prison in Feb 1991.
Last year, hijacking charges against Soe Myint were re-filed.
Soe Myint said the court’s judgement was a victory for both Burmese and
Indian democracy. He now lives in Delhi and is the editor of the Mizzima
news group, which distributes independent reports on Burma-related issues.

INTERNATIONAL

Irrawaddy July 3 2003

No EU Visas for Generals and Associates
By Naw Seng

European Union has pledged not to issue visas to Burmese generals and
their associates and freeze their EU assets. The decision came after the
latest detention of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The extension of sanctions was announced in the Official Journal of the
European Union.
According to the journal, the EU council’s decision affects 270 individuals.
The list includes the ruling generals and their family members, former
members of the State Law and Order Restoration Council and State Peace and
Development Council, leading members of United Solidarity and Development
Association (USDA) and businessmen who benefit from the junta’s economic
policies.
The EU increased pressure on Burma shortly after National League for
Democracy (NLD) members and supporters were violently attacked by USDA
members in Upper Burma on May 30. The clash left hundreds missing and
dozens dead, according to opposition sources.
The council also opted to suspend any EU military assistance to Burma.
"The council has also decided to enforce a prohibition on technical
training or assistance related to the provision, manufacture, maintenance
or use of arms, munitions and military equipment," the journal reported.
A new Common Position on Burma was adopted by the EU on Apr 28, 2003. The
council decided to suspend implementing new sanctions until late October,
hoping that progress, such as dialogue between the NLD and the regime,
would be made in the interim. After the detention of Suu Kyi, the council
imposed the new sanctions without delay.
Burmese democracy campaigners in Europe say the new sanctions do not go
far enough and want to see Europe ban investments and imports, as the US
has promised.
The expanded sanctions update the EU’s first Common Position on Burma from
Oct 1996. It banned visas for members of the military regime, senior
military and security officers and their families, and suspended
high-level government visits to Burma. It also confirmed an existing 1990
arms embargo and a 1991 decision to cease defense cooperation with the
regime.

EDITORIALS

Bangkok Post July 3 2003

WHY THIS ABJECT TOADYING TO BURMA?
By Sanitsuda Ekachai

Whilst military dictators in Burma hold democracy champion Aung San Suu
Kyi in detention, the Thaksin administration is cracking down on
pro-democracy Burmese students living in exile in Thailand.

Can we see the common thread?

Our prime minister has also harshly attacked the UNHCR, and his government
is turning a blind eye to the plight of refugees who flee poverty,
political oppression and war atrocities in Burma.

Thaksin Shinawatra said Thailand was not a lackey of the UN body. Despite
the lip-service he has given to peace and democracy in Burma, his actions
show whose lackey he wants our country to become. What a choice. The
Burmese generals must be grinning from ear to ear to know they are not
alone in their heartless world of despots.

As well as taking to task the Burmese pro-democracy activists and the
UNHCR, Mr Thaksin has a plan up his sleeve to punish poor Burmese who risk
their lives to cross our border in order to escape his junta friends'
atrocities and find work here _ and some peace.

His idea is to abolish the system of registering migrant workers. In its
place he wants to set up a formal, government-to-government, labour import
system whereby migrant workers must possess passports, visas, official
contracts and a definite term of stay.

That means some two million Burmese workers in Thailand will face
expulsion once their registrations expire next year. It also means they
will be forced to live a more tenuous existence and thus be more
vulnerable to exploitation.

Labour expert Bundit Thanachaisethawut, among many, doubts what Mr Thaksin
has in mind is feasible.

Describing it as wishful thinking at best and inhumane at worst, he said
the plan did not take into account the simple reality that the Burmese
junta does not want to take the migrant workers back. That is because not
only do most of the migrants not have legal documents to prove they are
Burmese citizens but a large number belong to ethnic minorities that the
junta wishes to obliterate.

Thai immigration offices have tried before to formalise the system, and
they failed miserably. They had to wait more than six months for Burma to
verify the citizenship of just 60 workers before they could be sent home.
Two died in Thai detention centres while they were waiting. And the
Burmese authorities agreed to accept only 20 for return.

The system broke down with just 60 people. Mr Thaksin seems to think it
can handle two million. The mess to come is quite obvious.

The linkages between political oppression in Burma and the influx of
Burmese people into Thailand are clear. So clear, in fact, that we must
ask ourselves what it is that convinces Mr Thaksin to kowtow to the
aggressor generals.

The military junta is widely suspected of supporting the Wa drug kingpins
who bombard our country with methamphetamine pills. Its wars of ethnic
cleansing have pushed the weak and the poor across the border into our
country, burdening us with an endless stream of refugees, displaced
persons and migrant workers.

If Mr Thaksin wants to end the influx of war victims, he should not use
the UNHCR and the pro-democracy activists as scapegoats, nor should he
portray the migrants as a national security threat by painting them as job
stealers, drug traffickers and disease carriers.

Instead, he should talk candidly to the junta about stopping their
mischief and help to foster peace and mutual respect in Burma so its
people can live without fear or in danger in their homeland.

If there is anyone in Burma who is a national security threat to Thailand,
it is not the Burmese who want democracy for their country or the
exploited Burmese migrants who ask for help; it is the junta's generals,
Mr Thaksin's good friends.

- Sanitsuda Ekachai is Assistant Editor, Bangkok Post
___________

Foreign & Commonwealth Office July 2 2003

PRESS RELEASE WEDNESDAY 2 JULY 2003


Foreign Office asks BAT to withdraw investment in Burma

Foreign Office Minister, Mike O’Brien in a meeting today with Martin
Broughton, Chairman of British American Tobacco, asked BAT to withdraw
their investment from Burma. Mr Broughton agreed to consider the request
and to give a formal reply soon.

The Foreign Office request comes a week after the Prime Minister made
clear that we do not believe that trade or investment in Burma is
appropriate when the regime continues to suppress the basic human rights
of its people.

Separately, in a debate in the House of Commons this morning there was
unanimous condemnation over the Burmese regime’s record on human rights
and deep concern over recent events in Burma.

Mike O’Brien, stressed that the Burmese people’s struggle will continue to
receive the full and active support of the British government stating that
 “the Burmese people want nothing more than to be left free from
repression to build an inclusive, tolerant and prosperous society. But
they need help and encouragement from their friends in order to emerge
from the shackles of this repressive and incompetent regime”

He went on to welcome recent firm action by the US and Japan and added
that the UK was ”actively considering with partners further action if the
regime do not see sense”
__________-

Bangkok Post July 3 2003

WELCOME TO ... HORROR
Story by SANITSUDA EKACHAI

Naing Ling, 25, was walking back to his factory from a tea shop one
evening when a bullet went through his forehead, killing him instantly. He
was killed by a youth hate group that roams the streets of Mae Sot at
night, on motorcycles, looking for Burmese people to attack.

Another death. Another falling leaf. There was no police investigation and
no arrest _ the same as in countless other deaths of Burmese workers in
Mae Sot before him. We live in sheer terror,'' said one immigrant worker,
asking for anonymity, out of fear. People know they can do anything to us
because the police won't take action. That's why they dare to attack us
more openly and more violently.''

Tales of terror abound in the seemingly calm and laid back small border
town of Mae Sot, Tak province.

Located opposite the Burmese town of Myawaddy, Mae Sot relies heavily on
cheap Burmese labour. The workers cross the border illegally, and the fear
of arrest forces them to keep silent if they are robbed, abused or
attacked.

They are even more afraid of further abuse in jails or detention centres,
and of deportation back to Burma, where they face even worse abuse from
the authorities.

A large number of immigrant workers in Mae Sot are not Burmese, belonging
to other ethnic groups such as the Mons and Karens, who have fled not only
harsh poverty but also violence, atrocities and war under Burmese military
rule.

At least here we have a chance to find work so we can send money back to
our families,'' said factory worker Lui Lui, 25, from Moulmein.

Many end up with shattered dreams. We never knew that life on this side of
the border is also very insecure and dangerous,'' she said.

Routine police extortion is only the mildest form of systematic abuse they
must endure. Of the estimated 100,000 Burmese workers in Mae Sot, only
about half are registered. Having official status does not mean you're
free from harassment.

As a rule, the employers do not let the workers keep their registration
cards, which is a gross violation of labour rights. The workers are given
only photo copies of the cards, or receipts for the registration fees.

The police do not acknowledge these informal papers. But both the officers
and the workers know the rule of this cat-and-mouse game. Pay up to be let
go, or be kicked out of the country.

The negotiations'' can happen at police stations and detention centres,
but by then the process is a lot more complicated, thus needing more money
to untangle it. Most workers have heard of horror stories about severe
beatings and sexual harassment in state prisons and detention centres.

To avoid all that, they just pay on the spot.

I never feel safe here,'' said Lui Lui. Walking down the street can be a
risky business. We can be harassed anytime. People with wives and children
can be deported and their families broken apart.

Every time I see a policeman, I tremble and sweat. It's a life full of
fear. It is so stressful.''

Fear of arrest and deportation forces the workers to endure the slave-like
work conditions. I'm afraid to leave the factory,'' said another immigrant
worker. I'm too scared.''

Those who seek better-paying jobs elsewhere must pay a hefty sum to human
trafficking gangs to transport them to other provinces.

Most who stay put in Mae Sot are afraid to demand better work conditions.
It is common for protesting workers to be deported. The workers' leaders
are often physically attacked by gangsters paid by the employers. Some
mysteriously disappear.

The popular method to make Burmese workers disappear is to burn the bodies
on piles of tyres. Such burning is rife in the outskirts of Mae Sot where
immigrant Burmese workers are hired as farm hands. Many are unregistered,
and thus vulnerable to abuse.

When they asked for payments after many months of work, the employers
often refused, which led to quarrels. Then the employers just have the
workers killed by hired guns and have them burnt on tyres to get rid of
the bodies,'' reported a rights activist, asking for anonymity because
giving humanitarian assistance to illegal workers is deemed an illegal
activity by state authorities.

The police never took up these cases, so the climate of impunity breeds
more and more violence,'' he pointed out.

There also have been several cases of mysterious disappearances''' of
workers who were suspected of petty theft or who had quarrels with Thai
villagers, added the rights activist.

In January 2002, 17 Burmese immigrants were killed and dumped into a river
in Mae Sot. The authorities let the bodies flow into the stream inside the
Burma borders so they could close the cases without having to investigate
the murders.

Lying beneath this violence and systematic negligence of the abuses of the
Burmese workers is deep hatred, say the rights activist.

They equate Burmese workers with all things bad, be they criminals, job
stealers, disease carriers _ the enemies of the country.

They feel the Burmese workers should be thankful enough they have a roof
over their heads here so they should never, ever challenge the Thais in
any way. And those who do, just have to be punished.''

It's not only police and immigration authorities who can arrest the
workers _ local administration officials do too.

Since many village heads, kamnans, and their sub-ordinates such as village
defence volunteers, are extortionists and human traffickers themselves,
the abuses of power are widespread _ not only in Mae Sot but everywhere in
Thailand that Burmese migrants are working.

We feel we can be terrorised by just anybody here,'' said one worker. We
dare not resist, or question anyone, because we don't know who are the
real officials and who are the fakes.''

For those who try, resistance can be fatal _ as Aye Min, 22, and his
friends found out (see Death town''). They tried to fight back against an
extortion gang. They were beaten up and burned to death.